(PhysOrg.com) -- The Haber-Bosch process, known throughout the world as the means by which ammonia is made for use in fertilizer, has been under study for at least as long as the agricultural revolution has been underway. ...

(PhysOrg.com) -- Complex molecules, including many organic species, exist in a wide range of environments in the cosmos, and are especially abundant in giant molecular clouds of gas and dust where new stars form. The rich ...

(PhysOrg.com) -- Motor vehicles and industry are primary producers of ammonia in Houston's atmosphere, and cars and trucks appear to boost their output during the winter, according to a new study by researchers at Rice University ...

The anaerobic oxidation of ammonia (anammox) is an important pathway in the nitrogen cycle that was only discovered in the 1980s. Currently, scientists estimate that about 50 percent of the nitrogen in the atmosphere is forged ...

(PhysOrg.com) -- Infrared dark clouds (IRDCs) are dark patches in the sky seen against the continuous, bright infrared background produced by our galaxy. IRDCs are rich in molecules and relatively dense, cool gas, and they ...

(PhysOrg.com) -- John Fleming of SilverEagles Energy and Tim Maxwell from Texas Tech University, say they have developed a way to make ammonia that is cheap enough so that it could be used as fuel for cars. If their claims ...

With citizens' groups seeking government regulation of foul-smelling ammonia emissions from large dairy farms, scientists today reported that adding natural plant extracts to cow feed can reduce levels of the gas by one-third ...

(PhysOrg.com) -- Astronomers have discovered the darkest known exoplanet - a distant, Jupiter-sized gas giant known as TrES-2b. Their measurements show that TrES-2b reflects less than one percent of the sunlight falling on ...

Ammonia

Ammonia is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula NH3. It is a colourless gas with a characteristic pungent odour. Ammonia contributes significantly to the nutritional needs of terrestrial organisms by serving as a precursor to food and fertilizers. Ammonia, either directly or indirectly, is also a building-block for the synthesis of many pharmaceuticals. Although in wide use, ammonia is both caustic and hazardous. In 2006, worldwide production was estimated at 146.5 million tonnes. It is used in commercial cleaning products.

Ammonia, as used commercially, is often called anhydrous ammonia. This term emphasizes the absence of water in the material. Because NH3 boils at -33.34 °C (-28.012 °F) at a pressure of 1 atmosphere, the liquid must be stored under high pressure or at low temperature. Its heat of vapourization is sufficiently high so that NH3 can be readily handled in ordinary beakers, in a fume hood (i.e., if it is already a liquid it will not boil readily). "Household ammonia" or "ammonium hydroxide" is a solution of NH3 in water. The concentration of such solutions is measured in units of baume (density), with 26 degrees baume (about 30% w/w ammonia at 15.5 °C) being the typical high concentration commercial product. Household ammonia ranges in concentration from 5 to 10 weight percent ammonia.